Review: Smashed into Pieces – Scarlet Blackwell

You can run, but you can’t hide…

Sheriff Brandon Schofield is smitten by the new arrival in Clear Water Creek, Finn Austen. But Finn is living in the house by the lake where a murder took place, and his story is no less unhappy than the previous occupant’s. Finn is on the run from a violent past and he trusts no one.

Brandon is desperate to break down his defenses and win Finn’s love and trust, but time is running out, and perhaps he can only protect Finn for so long.

Series: Clear Water Creek Chronicles #2
Release Date: December 3rd 2014
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Source: Manic Readers
Reviewer: Kenna
Rating:

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Reviewer’s Thoughts

3.5 Cocktails

“Smashed Into Pieces” from Scarlet Blackwell was…unexpected?  I had thought that it would be a romance story with some action thrown in.  Instead, it turned into a crime novel along the lines of the “Prey” series from John Sandford with two men falling for each other in the course of the book.  Don’t get me wrong.  I like crime novels and read them quite often, but I wasn’t really in the mood for one.  I wanted a love story between two men.

Sheriff Brandon is new in town and has developed an interest in Finn, a quiet, reclusive man who has moved into the house across the lake.  It’s obvious that he’s on the run, and he wants NO part of the sheriff or anyone else in town…save for the nurse because he is injured in some way.  Brandon doesn’t really want to let up though.  He persues Finn at nearly every opportunity, even investigating his past in Colorado.

This is where the story picks up, and I don’t want to give too much away.  The reason that Finn doesn’t want to get close to anyone is because he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt thanks to him.  He continuously pushes Brandon away.  Over and over and over again, in fact.  I was getting really frustrated by that.  I was screaming at my Kindle, “LET HIM IN FINN!!!  HE ONLY WANTS TO HELP!!!”  At one point, I thought that Brandon should just give up and find someone who would love him like he deserves to be loved, but against MY better judgement, he continued on.

Finn is so damaged that, when the man he’s running from, shows up planning to take him back to Colorado, and probably kill him, he’s just ready to lay down and accept it.  This was also really frustrating.  He just would not allow himself to be helped.  I mean…COME ON!!  This is even after he’s been intimate with Brandon, and they’re, for all intents and purposes a couple.

There was just a lot going on in this story, and it was brutal.  So much more brutal than I expected.  Certainly, abuse is never tame, but wow.  Ms. Blackwell has a firm grasp on the subject matter, and she writes in such detail that I was actually sick to my stomach in certain parts.  I’m serious.  This book is not for the faint of heart, and it’s most definitely not pretty.  It’s gritty and intense.  If you go in, like I did, thinking you were going to get hearts and flowers, you are missing the mark.  Instead, if you go in knowing it’s a crime novel, you can appreciate it for what it is.
Domestic Violence is never ok.  If you, or someone you know, is being abused, please call 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE).